It was about a year ago that I predicted that Mitt Romney would win the Republican nomination and ultimately the presidency. (I also made a similar prediction on my Facebook account around the same time, which is no longer active). I was right about the nomination, and I remain confident about my prediction for the general election.

In fact, I want to take things one step further and predict a convincing Romney victory as part of an overall Democrat bloodbath. The Republicans will maintain a strong majority in the House, they will gain control of the Senate with 55-57 seats, and they will win the White House by a comfortable margin (perhaps even by a landslide).

All of the signs are pointing in this direction. The Obama campaign has become unhinged. It has no unifying message, other than the claim that Mitt Romney is the antichrist who murders innocent women, refuses to pay taxes, and abuses animals. And the only reason he chose Paul Ryan is because he enjoys watching the young congressman torture grandmothers. These dirty tactics will backfire.

Romney’s base is energized. His VP pick was brilliant. Swing voters will break his way. The Tea Party won round 1 in 2010. This year, they will take round 2 as well. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

It’s a different story here. The mainstream media still favors him, but it seems that most of them have long since abandoned their messianic hopes. They have come to terms with the fact that what he sold was not what we got, but they still like him better than any Republican.

But the mainstream media here in America are seeing their influence wane as new media sources, a large number of which are ideologically conservative, have come on the scene. There is a regular drumbeat of (well justified) Obama criticism coming from these sources.

As far as the American public is concerned, Obama’s approval rating is below 50%, and specifically on his handling of the economy (the key issue of this campaign), his approval is around 36%. I wouldn’t say that the wider public has necessarily embraced Romney, but his voting base has, now that he has chosen Paul Ryan to be his running mate. Obama’s base has little energy this time around, so that puts the advantage clearly in Romney’s court. Furthermore, I think the Republican National Convention (August 27-30), the Romney ad blitz that will be sure to follow (once he gets funding from the Republican party), and the presidential debates to come will only strengthen Romney’s position among voters who haven’t gotten to know him yet.